Oh, you know I love a bit of reportage! I thought I'd track by store this year, just out of curiosity. Only 5% of my shopping was purchased in the actual store, and then only because I was unsure of the size I needed and didn't want to ship multiple items. Most of the time I can't find the item/color/size I want in the store, so I order online. I live near Chicago, so returning things is generally no problem.

This year my shopping had some favorites, but no store dominated:

• 4 items each from Nordstrom, Anthropologie, Banana Republic Factory, Athleta, and eBay.
• 1 item each from Title Nine, Macy's, Amazon, Old Navy, Cos, Quince, Boden, and REI.

I note that I have gone over my January imposed limit of 20 items.

@ Roberta - I like to ask this question (of myself and others) every year. I find the answers, and thinking about where I source garments helpful when addressing my style goals - and whether or not I’m meeting them. Does my budget fashionista self sabotage my goal of elevating my overall style? Does shopping thrift or stores that carry last year’s stock affect the modernity of my outfits? Etc, etc.

This has been a very low buy year, only 6 items so far. Two were from Anthropologie, both purchased B&M, two from Everlane, both online purchases, one from JCrew, online, and one from Zappos, online. Local shopping is limited to a few stores so I'm usually shopping on line. We do have an Anthropologie so they got 1/3 of my money this year.

My preferences are fairly clear now...

Out of 17 purchases (clothing, bags, shoes and sportswear)

• 9 are from boutiques/independent retailers stocking a variety of brands and I purchased these all instore
• 5 from chain stores of which they are all sports gear (lululemon, Stirling Sports, MacPac, Bivouac) - 2 online and 3 instore
• 2 online 2nd hand purchases (TradeMe) for a blazer and a bag
• 1 instore 2nd hand purchase

I think that would reflect how I like to shop and how I do best. Activewear and sports gear often comes from larger retailers although I have a local independent store for hiking gear that I love (I just haven't added any this year).

I like boutique shopping and seize my moments - two things on vacation in Broome, Australia, some shoes on a city break, some shorts at the beach, two pairs of pants when getting my curtains washed I visited the local boutique in a nearby town, a dress in a shop just before I went to the movies....Malls are not my favourite and I only go there for targeted shopping and quite rarely.

I do browse often online but don't seem to pull the trigger - I don't know why!

RC: Good question. In my initial WFH panic I bought too much from Talbots and Ralph Lauren and ended up feeling not at all like myself. Far too cheery and nautical. I did a course correct last year and this year, buying more casual pieces but from brands that I have always loved and the mix is feeling more comfortable to me.

I haven't been very successful with on- line shopping and, because I live in the boonies, returning items is such a pain that I often don't. I gift them to the Salvation Army instead.
I like trying things on in a store, where it's possible to try various sizes of the same garment on and figure out the best size. At least 50°/° of my wardrobe comes from the local Salvation Army Thrift Store. The rest comes from shopping trips to the Big City, which I do once a season, during sale season. You can take the girl out of Aberdeen but you can't take the inner Aberdonian out of the girl, even after 40 years.

This is such an interesting thread, particularly how well documented so many of you are. I don't keep track of my purchases, and it would be complicated because many are for flipping, but the vast majority of my money goes to second hand stores. Probably the largest dollar amount goes to theRealReal, where I buy my more expensive pieces, especially with the credit I earn by selling there. But local op-shops/thrift stores get a lot too. I can list the retail stores I have bought from this year: Uniqlo and Arket and all last week, if I recall correctly!

I’ve noticed a change since I stopped browsing in stores with nothing in mind . That used to result in things from all kinds of retailers , Winners included . But I now shop with something specific in mind and I go where I think I can find it . I usually have a brand or style already in mind ( especially for footwear ) which makes the shopping / on line searching faster . I nodded my head in agreement with Sal’s comment about looking on line but often not pulling the trigger . I start adding shipping , exchange rates , taxes , length of time things take to arrive and usually lose steam .

This has been a massive shopping year for me (so far - and I'm not done yet!) But also an unusual one. I bought most of what I bought in early spring on a trip to the US when I got some great items in person. Very unusual situation for me (at least since the pandemic struck). And yet the bulk of the items (22) were still bought online.

https://youlookfab.com/finds/c.....tion=12511

2 Aritzia (online)

2 Boden (online)

4 Everlane (in person)

2 Anthro (in person)

1 Scotch and Soda (in person)

4 J. Crew (in person)

2 Gap (online)

2 BR (online)

1 ON (online)

1 local boutique

7 Zara (online)

1 Bay (online)

2 Naturalizer (online)

3 Sandwich (online)

1 Bernardo (online)

ETA: I also bought two items on consignment (in person) that I'd forgotten to put in Finds. One was an inexpensive summer top originally from Aritzia. One is the fun plaid trouser from Dries van Noten.

@ Suz - it’s turning into a big shopping year for me, too. I’ve chalked it up to committing to assembling a summer capsule and a beach/swim capsule, instead of blathering on about it, and doing nothing! Also, replacing/refreshing denim/jeans.

Holy moly, counting it up -- this is the biggest shopping year I've had since 2013 or so (when I was building my wardrobe from scratch).

This is more than I typically buy in an entire year and it is only S/S -- I'm sure I'll buy at least a few items in fall, although possibly not many.

Like you, Carla, I chalk a lot of this up to a denim refresh. I had not properly refreshed denim since 2019 and I had even changed size since the last time I did the proper refresh. Eight of my purchases were denim or denim-like pants.

Zara knocked it out of the park this spring with some of their items. It's always hit and miss there but I get a good fit from them a lot of the time, and the price is right, so...

Fun to see so many Canadians on this thread!

I live in Ottawa and have access to a number of lovely boutique stores in various parts of the city. It makes for very eclectic but interesting shopping!

Suz and Runcarla, this is turning out to be a big shopping year for me, too. A combination of addressing attrition in a couple categories that I hadn't been paying enough attention to (shoes), finally building the dang capsule that I've been talking about (underpinnings), and -- I realize I'm going against the grain here -- embracing a desire for a larger wardrobe. We'll see how it all shakes out....

Interesting read! Enjoyed your comments!

These days, I shop much more online. About 95% online now. That way I can get exactly what I want, and for the price I want

I am a department store person. My best! (My favourite places to shop in the world are Japanese department stores). I can get most of the NON-American brands I love to wear from US department stores with free shipping and an excellent return policy. Big draw card!

I like to get my bigger ticket items from Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, and Neiman Marcus.

Very occasionally, I like Shopbop. Sometimes The Rack, Anthropologie, Marks & Spencer, Aritzia, Zappos, and Yoox too.

Club Monaco less and less. I struggle with their palette.

I love Polo by RL, Boden, Furla, ECCO, and COS. Staples!

J. Crew and Zara changed their handwriting, so I’m having a great run with them this year! Lots of natural fibres and great colours. Interesting, my Zara items tend to be fabulous quality and last for years!

I refreshed my pool, beach and resort capsule from Bleu by Rod Beattie. Outstanding service and product. I was wowed

I shop probably 95% online. I don't enjoy the instore experience (lack of stock in my size, line ups, bad dressing rooms...). In person I more often buy accessories (bags, sunglasses, jewelry), and will make the occasional spontaneous try-on purchase while out shopping with my kids.
Brands: ON, Gap and BR are ahead by a mile in terms of volume. Followed by Uniqlo, Zara, very occasionally Joe Fresh and Aritzia. A few nicer quality items from Canadian-made brands such as Power of My People, FRANC and BRAVE leather. I somewhat stick to certain brands for footwear (Converse, Birks), which helps with ordering footwear online, and will typically order from the brand website or a local store called Get Outside Shoes. I like their curated selection and they somehow seem to get things into stock even faster than the brand websites.

In no particular order:

Nordstrom
Bloomingdales
J. Crew
Madewell
Veronica Beard
Citizens of Humanity
Evereve

I'd say the BRAND getting most of my money lately is Veronica Beard, from a variety of the sources listed above.

Most of my purchases this year have been consignment and boutique, since that's the majority of the local options. Aside from the outlets, we don't have chain stores here, but I only go over there occasionally. The rest came from Etsy, BR, ON, Nordstrom, Swim Outlet, and Amazon.

It's interesting to see how others shop!

Since the pandemic lockdowns, I've converted to doing most of my shopping online, with a few exceptions for small neighbourhood shops for special items & shoes.

I order mostly from Old Navy/Gap & Madewell.

I would guess I get about 3/4 of my stuff online from Poshmark, and shop cheaply enough that if I don't love it, I don't have to return it. Even when I was doing brick and mortar, so much of it was thrift stores.

This is really fun to consider. I've been shopping from catalogs for 40 years, and when online shopping became a thing, it replaced any reason to go B&M for me. I still shop in person when on a vacation, and I will join a friend going to the Goodwill, or I'll swing by a vintage yard sale.

My habits have changed even further over time.
I try very carefully to not make returns (fuel, pollution, inconvenience), whereas I used to buy 8 cropped pants from 4 boutiques, knowing I'd return 5. I ask about garment measurements ahead of time, now, and I track notes on my History Finds about why a thing didn't work.
Like a lot of you, I tend to buy directly from the designer. I try to focus on North American made, but some expensive items (suiting, shoes) I could never fit in my budget, if i restricted to American made.

What a great thread. Thank you for the post and responses.